Setting and Introduction

This novel, set in an affluent town on Connecticut's suburban Gold Coast, begins with an abrupt encounter on a rocky beach and ends in shock and tragedy.

We first meet Charlie Barnes, a former Hollywood public relations man who drank and drugged away his career and his marriage. He now runs a local newspaper, The Fairport Patriot.

Characters

We then encounter Laura Farrell, a woman who suffered her own romantic pain on the West Coast and now works as a vegetarian chef and cares for her preteen daughter. These two damaged souls meet and try to capture some measure of love.

Setting and Themes

Their story unfolds against the backdrop of Fairport, the leafy enclave both call home, and the town itself becomes a barrier in their struggle to connect.

Charlie, new to the suburbs, learns that the town's core values are social exclusion, ascending real-estate values, and an almost pathological regard for children and pets.

Laura, a member of one of Fairport's Colonial first families, finds it is a place that harbors hostile spirits and unexpected dangers.